Phillies move to 20 games over .500 with sweep of Nationals. What’s next? ‘Our goal is to get to 25.’
At 34-14, Rob Thomson's Phils have tied the 1993 and 1976 clubs for the best start in franchise history through 48 games.
About two years ago, shortly after Rob Thomson was named interim manager, he set a goal for his team. The Phillies were below .500 at the time, so he decided to set their bar at .500. Once they reached that, he increased the goal to five games above .500. Once they reached that, the goal was 10 games above, and 15 games above, and so on.
It was a tactic Thomson picked up from Joe Torre when he was working in the Yankees organization. Five wins was the perfect increment — not so big that it seemed insurmountable, but not so small that it didn’t carry real meaning.
The Phillies are in a different place now. Thomson no longer has the interim tag. After an 11-5 win over Washington on Sunday, his team is now 20 games above .500, which ties the 1993 and 1976 clubs for the best start in franchise history through 48 games.
But that hasn’t stopped him from counting up.
“Now, our goal is to get to 25 over,” Thomson said. “And I’m serious about that.”
Players, coaches, and staff will concede that this year is different, but no one will say they are satisfied. It’s a long season, and they know better than to get complacent. But what is undeniable is that they have created some breathing room for themselves for the rest of the season. If the Phillies go .500 from here on out, they’ll finish the season with more wins (91) than they had last year (90). They are on pace for 115.
Will they finish with 115 wins? Unlikely. But what they’re doing now will make any adversity less consequential down the road.
What’s most impressive, perhaps, is that the Phillies are doing this without some of their best hitters. Trea Turner (left hamstring strain) threw on the field on Sunday but has not hit outside yet. Nick Castellanos, despite having a three-hit game on Sunday, entered the day batting .111 over his last seven games.
Others have stepped up. Kody Clemens, who was called up from triple A when Turner was sidelined, is batting .321/.345/.821 over 11 games. Alec Bohm is having a career season, and led MLB in RBIs with 42 after Sunday’s game when he drove in five runs, including a three-run home run in the eighth inning.
That kind of production means that Turner doesn’t have to rush his rehab. Castellanos doesn’t need to feel like the weight of the offense is on his shoulders.
“I believe that he’s going to come out of this thing and get consistent and start putting up the numbers that we’re used to seeing,” Thomson said of Castellanos. “So, hopefully this is a start.”
Even when the Phillies are not hitting to the extent that they did on Sunday — 11 runs on 12 hits — they are able to pair clutch hitting with strong pitching to grind out a win. They expect to win, even if they don’t know how they’ll win.
But after two narrow contests on Friday and Saturday, Sunday was a breeze. Everything was working in sync. Aaron Nola gave his team a seven-inning outing. The offense piled on, and on, so that when reliever Spencer Turnbull allowed two runs in the ninth, they still had a comfortable lead. The win gave the Phillies their sixth sweep of the season.
“It’s definitely different,” Nola said. “This is the first time we’ve been in this position this early. We’re not really looking at the record. We just kind of go out there and take each series one by one.
“We’re been fortunate enough to sweep a few series and win a good bit. Almost every single one so far. We enjoy these sweeps because they’re hard to come by, no matter what team you play, so we enjoyed this one today.”
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It is tempting to look ahead, but the players try not to. This is a sport that prides itself on taking it day by day.
“It’s obviously a cool little landmark there, but we also understand that April and May don’t really matter,” Bohm said. “As much as it matters to get out to a lead and every win counts, it’s a long year and we’re looking to play our best baseball in the homestretch.”
The good thing is that they don’t have to do the counting. Thomson can manage that for them.
“It’s great to be where we’re at, but we’ve got a long way to go,” he said. “We’ve got to stay humble. Keep battling, keep preparing, keep competing, and just keep moving forward.”